Enewsletter

Notes
from Vegan Outreach

Above: A pig is confined in a gestation crate (photo courtesy of Mercy For Animals). Below: Pigs hang on “the bleed rail” inside a slaughterhouse (photo courtesy of Temple Grandin).

Links
and Excerpts

Animal
Advocacy for All, by Alex Bury
“I find it doubtful that a pig crammed
in a tiny crate – or hanging in a slaughterhouse
– would want us to complain to Chipotle that
their new vegan dish wasn’t pure enough. If
mainstream America starts eating that dish,
millions of pigs could be spared a life of intense
suffering! I think she would want us to support
the new dish and get all of our meat-eating
friends to try it.” Full
article.

To
Quit or Not to Quit Veganism, by
Jack Norris
“Sayward Rebhal has an excellent post about
her struggles to stay healthy as a vegan. When
I got done reading it, I thought, ‘This is EXACTLY
what I’ve been saying!’…
“[I]t is
not the leftover remnants of the spirit of the
animal that is making [Jamieson] feel better.
Her body might require some molecules, or mixtures
of molecules, that she was only able to find
in animal flesh. But if that same mixture of
molecules could be reproduced outside of an
animal, it would satisfy her body’s needs.”
Full article.

Do
Some People Need to Eat Meat? by
Ginny Messina
“[S]ome vegans struggle more than
others to stay healthy. Nutrient needs vary
among individuals so some people may need to
work a little bit harder to obtain everything
they need. And some vegans are not getting enough
of what they need because they are eating diets
that are too restrictive and/or they are not
taking appropriate supplements.” Full
article.

Notes
from Our Members

Mary, Jamie, Kevin, John, and I
dressed up as elves to leaflet
Christkindlmarket, and had good interactions.
Mary had a wonderful conversation:
A mother came
back to me and said her daughter had a question
for me. I knelt down on the pavement because
she was so small. The little girl asked me if
my booklet had foods in it that didn’t hurt
animals. I said yes and that there were lots
and lots of foods that are made that don’t hurt
animals. She then asked me what I ate. I told
her that I ate sandwiches, pizza, spaghetti,
breakfast scrambles, desserts…but that I made
them in a way that didn’t hurt any animals.
She looked incredibly relieved and happy. Her
mom told me that her daughter (she’s 6) was
very upset about “chickens getting hurt.”
I told her that she had an amazing daughter.—Rachel Shippee, with Mary
Jungenberg et al, 12/22/12

At the San Luis Obispo farmers’
market, we met a few former vegetarians
who accepted a Guide
to get back on the path. Once again, there were
many who commented on wanting to be vegan and
getting closer to being vegan, so Erika, Jill, Randall, Eron, and I were happy
to help them in that effort. With the visit from St. Nick [above] and two new activists, it was a great night all in all!—Barbara Bear, 12/13/12

Casey snapped this pic while leafleting the Lycée Français de New York on 12/13/12: “A young woman passed by and said, ‘This is why I went vegetarian 3 years ago; just so you know it works – keep it up.’”

Many students at Lane Tech College
Prep were interested in learning
about what happens to farmed animals. Terry,
Nicole, Mikael, Kenny, Jovan, and I reached
nearly 700 of them before work.—Leslie Patterson, 12/12/12

Six-hour round trip to Broward
College was worth it, as I had
some of the best interactions I’ve had this
whole semester. For example, through the course
of our conversation, one student became convinced
of the benefits that would come if more people
stopped contributing to the inherent violence
of animal agribusiness. It was great to hear
the thoughfulness these students put into their
questions and comments. It was really obvious
these kids already had been giving the issues
some deeper thinking, and I have a strong feeling
the booklets being giving out here today will
only cause more to do the same.
While leafleting
Miami-Dade College, Medical Campus, many stopped
just a few steps past me to read their booklet;
others thanked me after accepting one and seeing
how it was they could help animals by lessening
their consumption. It’s the coolest thing ever,
seeing the magical way these booklets help people
make this connection!—Yuri Mitzkewich, 12/17/12

What
what WHAT a day of outreach at
Arizona State, my old stomping grounds! Together,
Meggie, Joseph, Zubair, Chris, Dillon, Amber,
and I reached 4,435 individuals – the most
at any school in the state of Arizona! I met
5 people that want to get involved and probably
30 vegetarians/vegans. Had a great conversation
with a student who had an issue with one part.
I gave him credit and pointed out how the other
99.9% of the booklet is still information that
he probably agreed with; he seemed really content
and actually interested in the idea of vegetarianism.
Thank you, Mr.
Carnegie. Another great interaction was
with Amy [right], a former vegetarian. Apparently she
was anemic, so I gave her a Guide and
pointed out the “Staying Healthy on Plant-Based
Diets” section; she was ridiculously excited
about it.
Take-rate
was super high at Mesa Community College,
as was interest in the subject. This was excellent
outreach, as evidenced by several standout
interactions: Spoke with Kathleen [right], a woman that
told me how she loves animals so much and is
always signing petitions for the Humane Society,
but she loved meat. We had a great 10-minute
conversation about the mistreatment of farmed
animals. She actually almost started crying
when we were talking and guess what: “I’m
going vegetarian right now!” Had a great
conversation with Anthony and Torin [right], who were
disturbed by our food system. I gave them both
Guides, and they seemed keen on the
idea of moving towards a veg diet, especially
Torin who seemed to just need this reminder
and a few answers to simple questions! Also
ran into one person who walked out of the Student
Union with a salad and pretzel bites in her
hands. When I offered her a booklet, she said,
“Oh, I already got one. I was planning
on getting chicken nuggets but after reading
it, I got this instead.” Score!
More great
conversations at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.
Alanna [below] started crying while we were talking.
She said she’s been “wanting to get into
this” for a while and this was the perfect
catalyst.

Excellent
reception at Phoenix College, a community college
comprised almost entirely of minorities. Heard
tons of awesome things like, “This is why
I’m vegetarian!” “This is really sad,”
“It’s pretty crazy stuff,” and “Lots
of people in class are talking about this.”
Had absolutely amazing conversations, including
instant vegetarians. On a side note, the last
three days I’ve met like 6 people who’ve said
they’ve written research papers on the subject
of farm animal mistreatment. The word is spreading!!!
Reception
was also super high at Glendale Community College.
One student said, “Awww, they’re so mean!”
(referring to those that abuse animals). Another
said, “Are those bags?!?!” (referring
to the trash bags male chicks are often thrown
into). Another guy said, “I am so voting
for this!” Others expressed their sadness
and one student even brought me a water for
my time out there.

Above and below: GCC students are engrossed in Compassionate Choices.

Headed to GCC for the second day in a row and it was excellent! These kids are super receptive. Met Cynthia, a video production major
who thought the booklet was very well-designed
and loved how it includes heartwarming pictures
of animals at the end. She said she’s been
thinking about this for a while and now
thinks she’s going to do it. At first she told
me she was going to start by cutting out
beef, so I quickly guided her in the opposite
direction, stressing the emphasis on chickens.
She said their household eats a lot of
bacon, so I gave her the idea of eliminating
or cutting back on meat except for bacon and
then, with time, incorporating Fakin’ Bacon
(not Smart Bacon, which tastes nothing like
bacon IMO) so she and her family could go at
a sustainable pace. It’s amazing how simply
handing her a booklet triggered her to finally
commit to a meat-free life after considering
it for some amount of time.

Had a great
conversation with a dude who stopped in his
tracks and was like “Yeahhhh, I hate animal
cruelty. I feel very strongly about this.”
He ate meat, so I verbally expressed the pie
chart of animals that die yearly in the US.
He was flipping through the booklet and muttered
“son of a b**ch” to himself a few
times (just to give you an idea of how upset
this made him). He was under the impression
that this was only going on outside of the United
States, but when I corrected him and then told
him how our purchasing power controls whether
or not this goes on, he seemed pretty pumped
up and happy to receive a Guide. Spoke
with Freddy, who came up to me and asked what
I was handing out – when I explained it to
him, he told me he was actually pretty interested
and that his stepmom was a new vegetarian, so
I Guided him! Then I talked to Brandon
– it was slow and he asked me to tell him more.
He was pretty shocked. I gave him a Guide
and pointed out some things he could buy next
time he was at the grocery store, and he said
he would. Another excellent conversation with
Ken. He said, “but I love pork and chicken”
after I mentioned “Help animals.”
I gave him a 20-second spiel about still being
able to get those same kinds of tastes, textures,
and aromas from plant-based meat alternatives
without supporting this kind of cruelty. He
seemed to have never heard of meat substitutes
before and when I mentioned he can get a lot
of these where he currently shops, his eyebrows
lifted up high and he excitedly said, “I’ll
have to check it out, thanks man!”

Above are a few of the people at the Phoenix First Friday Art Walk who let John know our booklets made an impact on them. Dave Hernandez, below, went veg after getting a booklet at a First Friday in 2010, then helped leaflet more of these events!

My first
First Friday leafleting in exactly a year –
I forgot how awesome the outreach is! Meggie,
Clarrissa, Joe, Jacqueline, Joseph, June, Zubair, Erik,
Rachel, Kimberly, and I reached over 3,300 people.
As soon as I put my boxes down, a guy named
Joaquin [above, center] walked up to me and asked, “Do
you have any recipes? A whole year and still
going strong!” He went vegetarian from
getting leafleted by us at First Friday exactly
a year ago! Later, I met a person [above, left] that received
a booklet from Meggie at Mesa Community College
on Tuesday. She recited some of the booklet
word-for-word, and mentioned, “Yeah, if
I cut my meat intake in half, I’ll still save
a lot of animals!” She told me that after
she read through the booklet, though, she doesn’t
wanna ever eat meat again! Also spoke
with Ali [above, right], whom I had leafleted at Mesa CC, and she
told me the Even If You Like Meat had
her crying. I handed her a Guide and
she said, “Awesome!”

Great day
back at Arizona State with Meggie. Ran into
Brinley [Suppes, left], a student I leafleted here a week ago.
Last week, when I said, “Help animals?”
she said, “Yeah, definitely.” I mentioned
how farm animals comprise 99% of animals killed
in the US. I gave her my card and within the
hour she had shot me an email and said how shocked
she was about the statistic and that she is
immediately going to make a change and encourage
others to do the same. Turns out that change
was her going VEGAN!!! She’s been vegan for
a week (straight from eating meat), has gotten one
friend of hers to go vegan, and is encouraging
her family to look at their food choices. She
even helped me leaflet for about 20 minutes
before her next class and wants to start volunteering.
Amazing!

Had a student
tell me, “You already made me cry once”
when I offered her a booklet. She was happy
to get a Guide, for sure! Also ran
into Althea [below], with whom I had a quick conversation
last week here. She told me she’s been eating
less meat since we talked and that the other
day, she was going to have chicken but decided
not to because that’s the worst choice in terms
of animal suffering!
My last
college leafleting of the year was Grand Canyon
University. Handed a booklet to two ladies and
as they walked away, I witnessed one hold it
up to her friend and say, “This is messed
up. It’s why I’m vegetarian!” Another student
came up to me and thanked me for handing it
to her – she informed me that she’s been vegetarian
for four years and seeing this reinforced it.
Similar interaction with Colt, who went vegan
overnight two months ago, and was having a bit
of a hard time of it. Useful conversation.
Finally,
a quick stop at Tempe High School. Made sure
to get the booklets into the hands of a few
uber-progressive looking kids. I wish someone
had handed me one in high school – I think
there’s a good chance it would’ve worked. Being
unique comes from how we impact the world, not
how we dress or how long our mohawks are.—John Oberg, December 2012

Vegan
Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
dedicated to reducing the suffering of
farmed animals by promoting informed,
ethical eating.